The Honour Guard
by Icon
Summary: A new chapter in the Saints of Athena unfolds....
1. Chapter 1

THE HONOUR GUARD  
  
A St Seiya fanfic by Icon Based on St Seiya by Masami Kuruada.  
  
Completely unauthorised. No permission has been given, no offence has been intended.  
  
Part 1 - Choices The main reception area of suite above the Glaude Tower offices was large and well appointed, with a truly spectacular view of the city far below through its picture windows.  
  
From her unusual vantage point June only had a brief moment to take in part the panoramic view before her attention was drawn to the other occupants of the room.  
  
Sitting in a straight backed chair was a dark-skinned young woman wearing a plain black dress and matching soft slippers.  
  
Her hair was close-cropped and jet-black. Her posture was perfectly poised, her back ramrod straight, her hands folded across her lap. The most striking part of her appearance though, was the mask she wore. Apart from the Cassiopeia Saint, all the female Saints that June had come across had worn plain steel grey masks like her own, usually with a simple, personally-crafted pattern on them. This mask was different, it was made of a metal so deep blue as to be almost black. Though the metal was matt, even from this distance June could see small sparkles of light on the surface of the metal, giving the overall impression that it had been forged from a piece of the night sky. It was beautiful, and beautifully made, but somehow... unsettling.  
  
A Cloth chest was on the floor beside her chair, but the viewing angle was wrong so the motif wasn't visible. June noticed, idly, that the girl had picked the least comfortable chair in the room, in a part of the room that wasn't even carpeted.  
  
The other occupant, a casually dressed green-haired boy of about fourteen, came as a complete surprise. After she and Shun had faced off against Spica and Reda in Tokyo, she had been left in the care of three young men wearing cybernetic body-armour. Her memories were slightly hazy, but she remembered the Steel Saints pretty well. There had been Sho, the oldest one, who'd been the natural leader; Daichi shortest, youngest and very talkative, and another one, rather quiet, whose name she couldn't recall. This was definitely Daichi, but a strangely changed one.  
  
Before he had left her in the hospital, he had come running into her room at about eighty miles an hour, chattering nineteen to the dozen, and generally getting in the way of the nurses. He'd been asked to leave, and had eventually been dragged out by Sho, but he'd had such an engaging air about him that she and the nurses were laughing as soon as he'd gone.  
  
This Daichi was totally different, his body language was all wrong; his arms were folded tightly over his chest, practically hugging his sides, and whilst he wasn't exactly scowling, he was a long way from smiling. He was huddled in one corner of a long couch and was turned away from the girl in the chair. She guessed something really bad must have happened to him and made a note to find out what it was. There was a faint sound from outside the room, indicating that the penthouse private elevator had arrived again, possibly bringing another Guard member in. Though Daichi didn't make a move, the woman in the chair turned her head to look towards the archway leading out to the hall.  
  
June had seen prime physical specimens in the past but even she had to admit to herself that she was impressed by the young man standing in the doorway. One of the, for want of a better term, "advantages" of being a Saint was that you tended to move in circles where the people you met were fit. Arrogant, conceited and in some cases stark raving mad, but fit. Albior had been impressive, and Shun and his friends were all noteworthy in their own individual ways, but this boy..!  
  
At a guess he was seventeen or eighteen, five foot eleven, with sun-tanned skin and matching sun-bleached blond hair. He had butterscotch brown eyes and was built like an Olympic swimmer, a fact emphasised by his blue muscle- shirt and cutaway jeans. He was, not to put too fine a point on it, stunningly good looking. Impressed as she was by his appearance, she was ever watchful for his body language. In her experience bearing, manner and movement told a lot more about a person than mere appearance. From this boy she was reading an open and forthright manner, almost too laid back, but certainly not hostile.  
  
"Um... Hi! My name is Arion, and I was asked to come here by my sensei and someone from something called the Glaude Foundation?"  
  
Seemingly ignoring the newcomer in front of her, the seated girl turned her head to look straight up at where June was.  
  
"If we're all going to introduce ourselves properly, you might as well come down". Her voice was calm and had an accent June couldn't quite place. Indian perhaps?  
  
June sighed, it was time to put in an appearance anyway, though she was curious how she had been spotted. She hadn't been using her cosmo at all, just simple stealth techniques. She reached forward and pushed the air conditioning grille out of the way before somersaulting lightly to the ground. She straightened up and, with a slight rolling shrug and a disconcerting double-popping sound, un-dislocated her shoulders. The vent had been a tight squeeze, but nothing she couldn't handle.  
  
She was wearing jeans and a grey T-shirt which were now covered in dust and grime, there hadn't been much point in dressing particularly neatly for her task. Her mask made for an effective dust filter too. The newcomer put down a shoulder bag and carefully put his Cloth chest down beside the doorway. He looked slightly surprised at her unorthodox entry but recovered well. She considered dusting herself down, but thought better of it, let them take her as they found her, though she did clap her hands to clear some of the dirt off. She stepped forward to greet him properly, though neither Daichi nor the seated woman stood. Well, that wasn't going to stop her.  
  
In a formal gesture the young man clasped his hands in front of his chest and bowed slightly from the waist, as a martial artist might at the start of a bout. He lowered his eyes as he did so, showing respect and trust in the one he faced.  
  
"Hi? I'm Arion, Bronze Delphinus Saint, and you are...?"  
  
She returned the gesture (She liked it, Saint's shaking hands on first meeting had a tendency to become a macho squeezing thing). As he had lowered his gaze, she inclined her head too.  
  
She opened her mouth to speak when she was interrupted.  
  
"At a guess she's June, the Bronze Chameleonis Saint" said the girl on the chair, her voice level and calm. Her voice sounded about eighteen or so. "And to save your next queries, I'm Rana, Bronze Eridanus Saint. As for our mutual friend on the couch; he came in after I did and hasn't said a word yet, so I have no idea who he is."  
  
The green-haired boy looked up briefly and said tersely, "Daichi, Steel Land Saint", and looked away again.  
  
Arion turned on the spot and gave the bow to the girl and Daichi, but neither reacted, which June found rude in the girl's case, though clearly Daichi had something on his mind. Arion's brow furrowed, he'd probably never heard of a Steel Saint before. An awkward silence hung in the air for a moment, before Arion took the initiative again.  
  
"Well, nice to meet you all. Umm.... this might be a rather personal question, what with us just meeting and all, but do you mind if I ask what you were doing in an air-vent?"  
  
"Well, I got here two days ago and got bored waiting for everyone else. I haven't had too much experience with infiltrating high-tech buildings and it seemed like a good opportunity to try out a couple of ideas. I'd been working at it for about four hours and got this far when I realised that someone else had shown up. After that it was as much to see how well I could conceal myself from you as anything else." "And the hat?"  
  
June remembered she had been wearing her fedora, it must have looked a little incongruous. She pulled it off and let her hair fall loose to her waist. She smiled ruefully, feeling a little embarrassed, and thanked heaven the mask hid her expression.  
  
"Long hair and electric eyes don't mix. My Cloth's got a headband, but I didn't want to use it." Arion just smiled rather wanly, as if this made perfect sense to him. Absently, June noticed that he had a _really_ nice smile as well.  
  
From behind her, Rana's voice was flat, "If your aim was concealment, you failed. If you don't want your scent to be noticeable, don't hide in an air conditioning vent."  
  
"But I'm not wearing any scent."  
  
"I didn't mean perfume, I meant your scent. I just thought it rude to bring the matter up when you must have been so pleased with yourself."  
  
June made a mental note to dislike this girl intensely at some point, at the same time making another to work out a way to conceal her scent better in future.  
  
Rana rose, "As I'm sure you've had a long trip, and I'm positive June could use a shower, perhaps we should all meet for supper in, say, two hours. I'll have something ready, and then we can get to know each other better." Without another word she strode off towards the private rooms.  
  
She walked in a very elegant manner, one foot placed almost directly in front of the other, hips swaying slightly. For some reason she couldn't quite place, June imagined Rana with long hair, it seemed the sort of style that she should be wearing, rather than what was almost a crew-cut. Her footsteps clicked loudly on the wooden floor.  
  
Oh great, she reeks superiority has the deportment of a model and she can cook! She can probably knit, juggle and spot-weld too, maybe simultaneously! It was totally out of character but June felt like glowering, it would be easy behind her mask, but she was not going to give in to temptation. What was it about this woman? All right, so a perfectly decent infiltration exercise had just been blown apart with one comment, but after only three minutes June felt like she had loathed her for years.  
  
There was something else about her though, something that didn't quite add up, something June couldn't quite put a finger on... yet.  
  
Putting such thoughts to one side for the moment, June said, in a warm, convincing and totally insincere manner, "What a good idea Rana." and led Arion off to show him the living quarters.  
  
A short while later June came back into the room, having showered and changed into a simple yellow summer dress. It was hard to find clothes in a colour that matched her mask so she'd given up and gone for something that matched her own colouring. If no-one else could appreciate the effect, that was hardly her problem.  
  
She surveyed the palatial suite yet again and wished she felt more comfortable. She disliked conspicuous consumption, and though the place was tasteful in the extreme it just wasn't to _her_ tastes. Spending your formative years in a rather sparse hut.. on an island.. in the middle of the Red Sea.. can have that effect on you. Generally speaking, cities made her skin crawl, she sighed, feeling wistful for a bit of desolation.  
  
The only other person in the room was Daichi, sitting alone in the dark, looking as if he hadn't moved from the first time she'd seen him. He probably hadn't. There were sounds coming from the kitchen area which she assumed to be Rana cooking, though that side of the suite was dark.  
  
Generally speaking, small talk was not something she felt skilled at, but it was clear Daichi was hurting inside and needed a friendly face, or at least a friendly mask, and she was the closest thing to that available. In her capacity as unofficial big sister to Shun, she'd developed a whole repertoire of approaches to handle depressed adolescent males; in this case she decided on 'cheerful and upbeat'. Time for another inner mask to slip into place, she wasn't feeling too upbeat herself at the moment. She sat down next to the boy.  
  
"Hi again Daichi! I wasn't expecting to see you again, least of all here, but I take it that you're going to be joining our little party. Will the other Steel Saints be along too?"  
  
"Sho... isn't a Steel Saint anymore. And Ushio is dealing with things in his own way."  
  
"What? Is Sho all right? Did he resign or..." She realised what the implications might be and let the question hang between them. She remembered her feelings after Albior's death, and recognised some of the same signs in Daichi.  
  
"He's alive, let's leave it at that." He spoke with such misery that June almost reflexively put her arm around his shoulders. He didn't pull away. This was going to be hard, she would try and find out about his situation from Saori or the Glaude Foundation, but if she could get him to tell her himself it would do him more good.  
  
"He is alive, he IS!", Daichi repeated, seemingly as much as to convince himself as anything else. "Which is more than they'll be able to say about you!" came a new voice from the direction of the door. June cursed under her breath for not having been listening for the lift, she'd let herself get distracted by the Daichi situation.  
  
Two figures were standing in the doorway, both wearing distinctive armour. From their manner, they _weren't_ here to join the Honour Guard.  
  
"Look cousin Tomas, a little lady Bronze Saint and a... whatever _that_ is. Shall we choose to kill them now or be polite?" The voice was harsh and grating.  
  
With a sigh the second figure spoke, his voice far more cultivated than the first. "Always remember your manners cousin Luis." The second speaker bowed extravagantly to Daichi and June before continuing, "Allow us to introduce ourselves. I believe it is traditional to do so amongst Bronze Saints. I am Tomas, Serpens Caput Saint, that's 'snakes head' to the unlearned." His tone made clear whom he felt that encompassed.  
  
He was of average height, but was relatively slim for a Saint, and had a wiry looking strength about him. His helmet consisted of a flared cobra- like hood at the back which joined a fanged headband across his forehead, his red hair was shaggy and shoulder length. The mustard coloured Cloth's most notable feature, from an opponents viewpoint at any rate, were the two bladed fangs emerging from the gauntlets, each of which had a ruby-eyed, snake's-head motif. These "fangs" added 8 inches to his punch's range and God alone knew what to their dangerousness.  
  
"And I am Luis, Serpens Cauda Saint, that means 'snakes tail', doesn't it Tomas?" He seemed pleased with himself for having remembered it properly. When Tomas nodded, Luis beamed, it did little to improve his appearance.  
  
Luis was hugely tall, easily seven feet, and far more massive than Tomas, far more massive than anyone June could ever remember seeing, other than Geki, the Bronze Bear Saint. Luis' shoulders were enormous and his muscles practically had to fight for room on his arms, which seemed overly long for his body. His rough, half-finished looking features and bald head completed the brutish appearance. He gave the impression that he had been not so much born, as hewn from a large and gnarled tree.  
  
His Cloth seemed to made up of spirals of metal encircling his upper arms and elbows, his waist and his legs. Each part of the Cloth was decorated with a scaled pattern.  
  
That's when it hit June, the oddness about the two of them. The style and mustard yellow colour of their Cloths were identical, each was wearing half a Cloth!  
  
Tomas was wearing the helmet, forearm sections and skirt. Luis was wearing the upper arm sections, the stomach and legs. They didn't match each other in terms of size but Cloths tended to sort that kind of thing out for themselves when they transformed to their armour-form.  
  
"Now, Luis, who do you think would like to step forward and be the first to die at our hands?" "Mama always said, 'Ladies first' Tomas?"  
  
"And how right she was, it does seem only proper to ask the ladies first, but we won't stand on outdated modes of chivalry."  
  
"Chivalry is never outmoded, and that suits me fine," came a voice from the other side of the room. June wondered idly if Rana ever raised her voice above that quiet tone, probably not. If it was infuriating her, imagine what it must do to an opponent!  
  
Standing in the shadows of the door to the kitchen, Rana was now in full armour. Though wondering briefly about anyone who took their Cloth chest with them into a kitchen, June had to admit that she was impressed by her first sight of the Eridanus Saint. Her Cloth was made out of a metal similar in colour to that which her mask was made of, but of a deeper blue and even more iridescent. There was a silver headband as well as silver trim around the shoulders and gauntlets. The under-suit was also deep blue. June noted that she didn't have high-heels on her boots, which looked more practical than her own. From under the door of one of the living quarters there was a blaze of light and the sound of clanging metal. A second later, Arion came out in full armour, almost stumbling in the process as he skidded to a stop on the polished wood floor. He straightened, and June caught her first sight of the Delphinus Cloth. It was, perhaps, more "typical" of the Cloths that June had seen than Rana's. It was made of a blue-grey metal, and formed of helmet, chest- plate, skirt, arm-guards and leg bracers. A dolphin motif topped his circlet and what was probably a dorsal fin on his Cloth's other form was mounted on his left forearm. It gave him a small, but functional combination shield and blunt edged striking weapon. What might be the flukes of the tail braced the back of his shins, again making effective weapons.  
  
"I'd hate to think of a lady going into battle alone", Arion stepped forward and folded his arms. June was glad that her mask hid her expression. Typical! Standard male Saint machismo coming in to play. So much for her hopes he'd be more like Albior or Shun and his friends than most of the other Saints she'd met.  
  
Still, there was something strange about his manner that didn't quite match his movements. Before, when she'd shown him to his room, he'd been very... for want of a more technical term, "together"; very at ease with himself and others. Now he seemed a lot less sure of himself, more gauche, than he had been before. His body language suggested clumsiness, nervousness, and he had just stumbled. She'd never seen any Saint stumble before and wondered just how much combat training the Delphinus Saint had received, it didn't look like a good omen for the forthcoming battle.  
  
"How gallant, I salute you sir, I really do. I think I shall deal with the young lady here Luis. You can enjoy yourself with our noble young Saint in shining Cloth. Then we'll split the other two, on a first-come-first-served basis naturally. Yes?"  
  
In response Luis closed in on Arion whilst Tomas moved to face off against Rana. June nudged Daichi, who was suddenly alert and intense, and silently gestured towards Arion. Daichi nodded and moved over to keep watch on that combat.  
  
June backed out of the main area, heading down the inner hallway towards her Cloth chest within her room. A few seconds later, in a flare of purple light, the Chameleonis Saint emerged, her whip in her hand, ready to take such action as was needed. She would not interfere with a single combat, no Saint would, at least without good justification, but she was going to be ready for whatever might happen. A certain cold part of her mind also thought that it would be a good opportunity to see Rana in action. Rana and Tomas faced each other across the room. Almost immediately Rana started to move sideways, circling her opponent whilst weaving her hands slowly in a controlled, fluid movement. To an outsider it might look like an unusual blocking move but to a Saint is was much more.  
  
June recognised what she was doing, it translated roughly as the "Guardian Stars" technique. Albior had shown it to her, a Saint would sketch the pattern of stars in their patron constellation to focus their mind and cosmo. She had never particularly liked it, preferring to focus her cosmo through her whip, but she knew other Saints that did, Milo for one and Shun's friend Seiya for another, so Rana was in good company.  
  
As Rana traced the long, flowing pattern of Eridanus, her cosmo flared around her, but cosmo of a unique sort.  
  
Usually when a Saint focused their cosmo, there was a flare up of light, even June's own cosmo, one of the more subtle, had a violet shade. Around Rana however, it was growing darker, shadows appeared to be gathering around her until she was surrounded with an aura of pitch darkness.  
  
As she moved her hands, the shadows trailed after her like wisps of thundercloud. Within the shadow the points of light that formed Eridanus shone brightly.  
  
At the same time, Tomas was simply letting his green cosmo blaze around him. Without warning he launched himself into the air at blinding speed, his arms crossed in front of him, palms out. "Poison fang!"  
  
His cosmo flared around the snake heads on his gloves, and June saw that they seemed to animate, becoming twin cobra heads that hissed as they stuck out at his target. His arms swept out in a double scything motion.  
  
Rana threw herself into a back-flip which meant she avoided most of the impact, but was still knocked back off her feet into the wall.  
  
She span round as she impacted, hitting the ground on her feet. She nursed her ribs where a gash was starting to bleed and winced. Without another sound she started her motions again, her cosmo building up with increasing speed.  
  
For the first time, June heard Rana shout. "Phaeton's Bane!"  
  
As Rana moved in to attack she flexed her hand and from her fingers flew a stream of darkness that sparkled with black light. There was a rushing sound like water flowing accompanying the beautiful, disturbing visual effect. Rana seemed to be standing in a waterfall of constantly moving shadow, and was spraying water out at Tomas, as if she were a child playing in a river.  
  
Where the energy struck Tomas, it splashed and flowed around him, creating small patches of darkness on his Cloth and on his skin. He gasped and shuddered involuntarily. His cosmo flared around the dark areas, trying to burn the darkness away. He even batted at the patches with his hands.  
  
Seizing her opportunity Rana went into close attack, diving through the air to somersault and roll as she landed to one side of Tomas, attacking from a completely unexpected angle. Her style was unique, she was as fluid as her Cloth's namesake, jumping and twisting effortlessly around her opponent as she struck again and again at close quarters. She practically flowed over him.  
  
For all their strength and speed, Saints usually specialised in single blow techniques, Rana was another matter altogether!  
  
Rana struck with her fists, the edges of her hands, her elbows, her knees, with all the speed and power of a Bronze Saint. As Tomas recovered from the initial shock of her cosmo-attack he half crumpled in on himself from the sheer physical assault.  
  
Casually, Rana leapt back and away, facing him again and resuming their circling stalking of each other, though Tomas did not swagger quite as much as he had before, he was disturbed by Rana's assault. His voice was shaken, but filled with loathing, "What was that... that... cold... that darkness? What did you DO to me witch?!"  
  
"That wasn't just cold, if you want that, go fight the Cygnus Saint. That was your cosmo energy being nullified. The river Eridanus was dark and cold enough to douse the flames of the Sun god Apollo when his son Phaeton fell from the skies. Your cosmo doesn't even begin to come close to that sort of power level."  
  
"I am one of the strongest of the True Saints. My cosmo is unsurpassed. How can YOU nullify MY cosmo? "  
  
"And I should answer that because? I've told you what I did, what sort of an fool would I be to answer all of an opponents questions?" Rana's tone was mocking, "'True Saint'? Saori Kido is right, 'Shadow Saint' is a better name. Your very existence is an affront to Athena herself."  
  
"You still think that spoiled little girl is ATHENA? How can she be, the Kyoko himself declared her existence anathema. The fools who align themselves with her are guilty of heresy! They are also guilty of sacrilege with their assault on Sanctuary and the murder of loyal Saints of every level. Who knows what she did to the real Athena in her Temple. We, the remaining True Saints, are determined that those who stand beside her shall fall, and the true Athena be released, if she is even still alive and hasn't been harmed by you blasphemers."  
  
"Including the Gold Saints? Are you telling me that this 'spoiled little girl' managed to bring down Gold Saints?"  
  
"I don't know what evil powers Kido and her puppets might have consorted with to gain power, but I do know she can't be Athena."  
  
"Even if you're right, Tomas, do you and your.. unhygienic friend plan on facing them all down by yourselves. Evil beings who have brought down Gold Saints and the Kyoko? You're either braver than I thought, or more stupid than you seem."  
  
"I am a True Saint, I lack neither courage nor power. Athena will grant me strength."  
  
"How can you be sure?"  
  
"It's an article of faith, little girl, I don't expect you to understand."  
  
"Well, let's look upon this as a potential learning experience for all of us, shall we?"  
  
The opponents continued to circle warily, every sense alert, waiting for the first opportunity to strike again.  
  
Daichi wondered what to do, he could try to help Arion, but his Cloth's storage unit had been too heavy to be carried up to the suite, and so was downstairs, with the Cloth inside, in one of the freight rooms of the building. Neither he nor it would be of much use at the moment.  
  
He certainly hadn't expected to be assaulted here, a place even he hadn't known he'd be visiting until that morning. It would take a few minutes for the Land Cloth to respond to his summons, but he decided to do so anyway, he had nothing to lose, he'd either be in a position to help Arion directly or he'd be avenging a Bronze Saint as a well as a Steel Saint.  
  
He mentally transmitted the activation code to the Cloth as well as triggering a fire alarm that would result in the building being evacuated swiftly. He also alerted the security systems to clear a path between the Land Cloth and the path to the freight elevator so the Cloth would have an easy means of access. He was sure that the floors could take the weight of the Land Cloth itself... well, moderately sure.  
  
There was none of the subtle pacing and probing of Rana and Tomas' battle here. Before Arion could even make a move Luis leapt forward and struck. His cosmo (also green) flamed around his arms as he lunged forward with his hands outstretched.  
  
"Serpent Constriction!" The shout was deafening! Luis seized his opponent in arms almost as long as Arion was tall, pinning the boy's arms to his sides. There was an immediate sound of bones grinding. Thanks to the effects of the cosmo, Daichi could see the image of a massive constricting serpent encircling Arion and squeezing him tightly. With an impatient sound he blinked in a certain sequence, and an infra-red image overlaid the illusions, his optic implants supplementing his normal vision. That was better, he could see the actual combat now. He briefly wondered how normal Saints put up with the constant distraction of cosmo illusions.  
  
"Well, little fish, let us see how long you can resist my grip."  
  
Through gritted teeth Arion managed to gasp "A... dolphin... is not.. a fish.... it's a... mammal."  
  
"Fish, mammal, you'll die anyway."  
  
Arion struggled in Luis' grip, but he was well and truly trapped. His arms were pinned against his sides, and his neck was clasped by one of Luis hands. He tried, clumsily, Daichi thought, to kick back with his legs, to loosen the grip somehow, but they were pinned too.  
  
"I'll make this simple and quick for you little.. mammal. I really don't like to hurt people more than I have to. You'll pass out from lack of oxygen and then you'll die with no more pain. Unless you'd like to struggle some more and have me crack a few bones. I can do that if you'd like me to, just scream a little and I'll take that as a yes."  
  
The only sound from Arion was another gasp. Daichi looked over to where June was, seeking some sort of guidance, but she was totally involved in watching the other combat. She'd implied he was to do the same, but surely he had to take some action. He was just getting ready to dash forward, which without his Cloth would probably have resulted in major injury, when Arion caught his eye and gave the slightest of shakes of his head and what might have been interpreted as a wink. Hoping he wasn't misreading the signs, Daichi held back, waiting to see what Arion might be planning.  
  
As it turned out he didn't have long to wait. Arion gave another brief struggle then started talking. "Tell me Luis, do you have any idea of the strength required to train and fight underwater?"  
  
"No. Does it matter?"  
  
It seemed an odd topic for what might well be a last conversation. Daichi started to have a sneaking suspicion that there was something fundamental that Arion hadn't let on.  
  
Arion's voice resumed a more normal cadence as he replied, the gasping and wheezing vanishing. His cosmo started to burn, filling the air around him with sparkling silver-blue light.  
  
"My master trained me to fight in water. Starting in shallow water, but building up over the years until I was fully submerged for the length of the combat."  
  
"Interesting, but pointless." Even Luis was getting suspicious by this stage, doubt filled his voice. "Well... just so you know... as a sort of side effect of all that underwater training, I learned how to hold my breath for nearly eight minutes, my lung capacity is way above normal. Trying to squeeze the breath out of me won't have that much effect. As you can.. SEE!"  
  
His aura flashed again and Daichi saw, with his normal vision, the illusion of the Delphinus Saint for the first time. Above the heads of Arion and Luis a dolphin appeared in the coils of the snake.  
  
As the phantom dolphin leaped free of the equally unreal serpent, Arion kicked down and made contact with the floor. From that brief contact, he flipped himself high up into the air again and started to dive forward, convulsing as he did so, in such a way that Luis' grip was loosened, only a little but that was more than enough. Luis was sent sailing through the air where he smashed into the wall, with a horrible cracking noise. Daichi didn't think that all the cracking had come from the wall either.  
  
Still, Luis got up again, clutching one of his ribs and breathing heavily. Screaming out "FOR ATHENA!" at the top of his voice he powered forward, this time with his hands outstretched and interlaced, he obviously planned to hit Arion as hard as possible.  
  
With his cosmo sparkling even brighter around him, Arion jumped into the air again, almost seeming to hover briefly as he dodged the clumsy charge with ease. He turned in mid-air to strike Luis hard in the upper back as he went past. Luis hit the floor again.  
  
Daichi was impressed, Arion had done everything with a single-minded purpose. His monitored reaction time had increased by a factor of four since he had first appeared in armour. His entire gauche manner must have been carefully planned from the start, all in an effort to throw off his opponent. The sheer power of the blows Arion was striking with was worthy of note. Daichi couldn't perform detailed stress impact analysis without the Land Cloth's helmet sensors, but the force being directed towards the blows would probably have crumbled stone.  
  
When Luis picked himself up again, he was visibly reeling, and he was bleeding from his nose and mouth, never a good sign.  
  
Arion called over to him "I really don't want to have to hurt you, Luis, no matter what you may believe. You obviously believe very strongly in Athena, and in your convictions. I can respect that, but my colleagues.." (Not 'friends' yet, Daichi noted) "..have been called to deal with the residual followers of the Kyoko, and show you how you have been misled."  
  
"Just be quiet and prepare to die little dolphin."  
  
This time there was no subtlety to the attack. Luis charged again, his cosmo flaring wildly and erratically, and Arion simply ducked under the blow and punched him. Nothing fancy, just a straightforward uppercut, but delivered with incredible force. Luis put up an arm to defend himself, but it was an unprotected forearm, and the blow clearly hurt the Serpens Saint badly.  
  
Again, Daichi had to admire the strategy employed by Arion. Without even seeming to try, the Delphinus Saint was deliberately striking at the unarmoured areas of his opponent, taking advantage of the weaknesses of the half Cloth.  
  
For all his apparent naïveté, Arion was an opponent to be reckoned with. Daichi watched as Arion didn't duck in time to avoid a wild swing from Luis and added, "...most of the time."  
  
The combat between Rana and Tomas was more even, but had taken a bad turn for Rana. She was clutching the side of her stomach, where the fangs on his gauntlets had scratched her. The scratches seemed to glow with a virulent green light, that throbbed and pulsed. Her breath was hissing out between clenched teeth.  
  
"You see little Bronze Saint, the poison my cosmo creates already starts to run through your blood like fire. Soon it will build up in your heart and from there you will simply die, provided I don't kill you first." "You really have to get over this talking too much problem you have, Tomas. Thanks for the advice." With that the shadowy aura of her cosmo flowed over her body again, running down her arm and concentrating in her fingers, which burned like a the negative of a flame.  
  
"If your poison is derived from your cosmo then..." with a deep breath she touched her fingers to the green glowing scratches. Black fire flared and there was a sound of searing flesh. When she removed her fingers there was a smoking burn over the scratches, but the green glow was gone.  
  
".. I can neutralise it, dilute it."  
  
June felt slightly ill at the implications of what she had just seen, but couldn't fault the success of it. Tomas was practically goggle-eyed, which was not a pretty sight.  
  
"Right girl, if you wish to make this a straightforward combat, I am happy to oblige. Now let us finish this properly, Eridanus Saint."  
  
"Fine. Whatever. Just shut up and get on with it."  
  
What followed had a certain beauty to it, an inhumanly swift fusion of gymnastics and combat. Rana's fluid style contrasted with the sweeping, diving attacks of Tomas, but they were evenly matched. Tomas would strike and Rana would flow out of the attacks path. She would strike out at him with a sweeping kick, and he would leap over the blow. She would chop and he would block, he would strike and she would twist underneath the blow. This continued for long minutes. Neither opponent allowed themselves to be distracted by the combat taking place on the other side of the room.  
  
Eventually Eridanus and Serpens Cauda faced each other again. Both were breathing heavily by now, but gave no sign of weakening.  
  
"Well, that wasn't particularly successful was it, Serpens Saint. So let's try it my way, shall we?"  
  
Again darkness swirled and gathered around her as she dropped to a crouch and started sketching patterns in the air again. The toxic green glow intensified around Tomas.  
  
This time, the energy image that appeared around Tomas took form much more sharply, he seemed to have a gigantic cobra etched in fire towering about him. His arms were outstretched, flowing into the snake's image. "Poison Fang!"  
  
As he attacked, the snake image lunged forward and seemed to swallow Rana whole, fangs dripping venom as it enveloped her.  
  
Tomas' laughter shrieked louder as the snake started to thrash around, but cut off suddenly when the snake image started to buckle and warp.  
  
A core of darkness formed in the middle of his illusion and burned outwards. From within the core came a woman's voice shouting; "Phaetons Bane!"  
  
The shadow expanded and started to absorb the energy that etched the snake image, before reaching back to engulf the Serpens Cauda Saint. A vortex of darkness appeared around her target. June could feel the cold from where she stood, and, shuddering and hugging herself reflexively, felt a moment's pity for what Tomas must be feeling at the centre of the attack.  
  
Tomas' laughter turned to a long, drawn-out scream. June could make out his form stretching and straining to break through the shroud of darkness now surrounding him, but he started to collapse instead. As the shadows withdrew he was left a huddled shape rolled up into a foetal position, shivering uncontrollably and mumbling to himself.  
  
The shadows ran back into Rana's body and dissipated into her aura. She walked over to Tomas and stood straight and tall over his shaking body.  
  
She knelt down beside him and ran the splayed fingers of one hand down his face and body. She leaned over and whispered in a voice that June could barely hear; "I'm told sensory deprivation is a terrible experience, especially when it is enhanced by a Bronze Saint's cosmo. It works a lot faster to start with, but then, you know that from experience now."  
  
Tomas could only whimper.  
  
The battle between Luis and Arion was continuing in a more one-sided manner. Arion dodged nearly every blow of Luis, whilst inflicting many more of his own.  
  
Luis was bleeding heavily now, and his whole frame was badly bruised, even his cloth was developing hairline cracks. Arion had several nasty bruises too, but he wasn't nearly as badly hurt as his opponent. More to the point, his Cloth was intact and he didn't have any obviously broken bones.  
  
Arion called over to his opponent "Yield, Luis, please. You believe in Athena, I can sense that. Accept that Saori Kido is Athena, I can take you to meet her, you can see for yourself."  
  
"When I meet her, it will be when I track her down to her hidden lair in the true Athena's name and slay her."  
  
"Well, you'll find she's either in the Sanctuary in Greece or on her estate outside Tokyo. Neither of those strikes me as being much like a 'hidden lair'?"  
  
"Don't play games little dolphin, they just confuse me, and I have to hurt whoever does that. I trust that Athena will grant me the strength to defeat you. Tomas has told me this."  
  
"You really don't get it do you? Athena can't help you defeat me, because Athena is the one who gave me my mission to stop you."  
  
Finally, one of Luis' forward charges met a backflip from Arion's feet as he rolled back with the impact. The now seriously groggy Luis was sent flying through one of the smaller picture windows looking towards another skyscraper. He plummeted straight out. Arion dived forwards and managed to snag the arm of the Serpens Caput Saint. The arm had been broken earlier in the fight and had shards of glass sticking out of it, but Arion had no real opportunity to grab anything better.  
  
"Hold on, I'll pull you in! Daichi! Get over here NOW!"  
  
"You would save an opponent, and break the rules of combat. Now I KNOW you can have nothing to do with the real Athena. She was the goddess of war and would never sanction." Luis spat, but what came out was bright pink.  
  
"She's the goddess of JUST war Luis, killing the helpless doesn't feature in that. And I'd call in the entire Japanese army to help me here if it meant you not dying needlessly!" By now Daichi was reaching out to try and grab Luis' other arm, but the dangling Saint kept twisting out of reach.  
  
"I am a servant and Saint to the true Athena. Be rescued by a servant of the false Athena? I couldn't live with such dishonour, I'd sooner die!"  
  
With that Luis wrenched his arm free from Arion's grasp and fell towards the street far below, shouting the name of his goddess as he went.  
  
Without another word Arion leaped after him.  
  
Daichi switched to tracking vision to follow both targets better.  
  
Arion had assumed what looked like a diving position. He leaped down, but kicked out with his feet, catching the wall underneath the window frame, boosting his speed enormously.  
  
Instead of falling straight down he had used the kick to generate horizontal momentum. When he reached the wall of the building opposite he span and kicked off against that, still aiming downwards. Luis was accelerating with the speed of gravity, but Arion was accelerating with the speed of sound, the whole strength of a Bronze Saint pumped into powering his leaps. He would be a barely visible blur to anyone without a Saints perceptions or, in Daichi's case, high definition video augmentation.  
  
Arion was overtaking the falling speed of Luis and he intercepted him on the third rebound, catching him in one arm (Daichi winced as he worked out the impact _that_ must have created) and twisting around somehow so he could absorb the impact as they hit the side of the Glaude building.  
  
Considering he had a seven foot tall Saint in one arm, finding a decent purchase clearly wasn't easy, but somehow Arion managed to find a grip in the stone cladding, but it was clear he wouldn't be able to hold on for very long, and there was still a long way down to the ground.  
  
It was at this point the Land Cloth arrived in the penthouse, powering in from the lift like a rocket propelled skateboard. June and Rana both span round at the loud whine from the motors and June was already lashing out at the target with her whip when Daichi managed to shout;  
  
"No! Wait! It's on our side!"  
  
Two masks turned to face him, and he realised just how stupid that sounded, but June reined in the whip just before it hit.  
  
Daichi wasted no time, summoning the components of his Cloth to him. He hardly needed the onboard computer to tell him his next course of action, he'd already decided on it.  
  
"June, over here. NOW!"  
  
Surprised at the authority in the boy's voice, June still found herself obeying. She ran over to where Daichi was looking out the window.  
  
"Can your whip reach down to where they are?"  
  
June looked out and did a quick calculation in her head.  
  
"What, sixty meters? Sorry, no."  
  
"Sixty three point four five nine" said Daichi absently, clearly thinking about something else. That earned him another quizzical tilt of the head from June, but she kept quiet.  
  
"Damn, is anything else we can use, he can't hold on for much longer." "Calm down Daichi, is there any sort of rope nearby."  
  
"June! We're in an deluxe penthouse in downtown Tokyo? I doubt that mountaineering equipment is in the inventory. Besides, you've been here for longer than me, anyway, have you seen anything that might help?"  
  
"Sorry, not a thing."  
  
Rana's voice came from behind them where she as still, sensibly, standing guard over Tomas. "Alternatives? Cable? Chain? Electrical wire of some sort?"  
  
"I can't see nearly enough around that could bear their weight, can you?" replied Daichi.  
  
"Where are you when I really need some nice, long, heavy-duty chains Shun?" though June to herself.  
  
Daichi was thinking fast, as was his onboard computer. He suddenly realised where the answer lay. "There's not enough cable visible, but there's more than enough in the elevator shaft." June silently cursed herself for not having thought of that, after all she'd spent over an hour crawling up the blasted shaft only that afternoon.  
  
Daichi ran to the doors of the elevator and forced them open with a groan of tortured metal. The lift car was parked at the top of the shaft, with a shout of impatience Daichi jumped up and managed to force his fingers into the tiny gap between the lift-car and the shaft. Hanging upside down and bracing himself against the top of the door he pulled as hard as his metal and plastic muscles would allow. With a horrendous creaking the lift-car and the cable parted company. Daichi nimbly back flipped to the ground to avoid the falling lift-car.  
  
The cable dangling from the drum was still a couple of meters out of reach, but June was able to catch the end of it with her whip and pull it down. Daichi started pulling it loose as fast as he could, hand over fist. June took the end of it over to the window where Arion was still clinging on for dear life. Luis was hanging motionless over one shoulder, a dead weight.  
  
"Is that enough now, June?"  
  
"It should be." With practised skill June coiled the cable around her arm and then threw the end of it down towards her target. Her aim was true and it landed just below Arion. Behind her Daichi braced himself, though she wasn't sure how much help he'd be, he was nearly half a foot shorter than she was. With what must have been the last of his strength Arion reached out to grab the rope before the weight of his burden proved too much for him. For a tantalising second it looked like he was going to miss, but managed to grab it with one hand.  
  
The weight on the end of the cable was incredible, Luis must have been solid muscle. June was prepared to take more of the burden, but realised that Daichi was bearing nearly all of it by himself, he was braced so firmly his feet weren't slipping and inch and he wasn't even sweating.  
  
Swiftly Arion and Luis were hauled up through the window. Arion looked close to collapse, but Luis was obviously in much more serious shape. Despite his obvious fatigue, Arion laid Luis down gently and checked for vital signs, probing gently over his body. June could see that whatever Arion found didn't please him. He straightened out the broken body and stood up, shaking his head sadly.  
  
"His heartbeat's erratic, he has severe internal bleeding and his lungs are filling with fluid, probably his own blood. It's too late for help."  
  
June wasn't sure what to say, and looked over as she heard an odd sound from Daichi, he was lifting his feet, and she just had time to notice that inch long spikes were retracting up into his boots. No wonder he'd been able to brace himself so well, his Cloth had literally bolted itself to the floor! Then she realised that the spikes must actually be retracting into his feet and legs rather than his boots and felt her stomach lurch, how much of this boy was human? Then she saw the look in his face as he checked over Arion for injuries, and remembered his voice when talking about his brother, and felt ashamed she'd even thought to ask.  
  
The room was suddenly filled by a metallic ringing sound, Rana backed quickly away from where Tomas lay on the floor, but it was his Cloth that the sound was coming from. A green glow around the segments of the Cloth that Tomas wore was building up. All the Guard adopted defensive stances expecting some new trick from the Serpens Caput Saint, but what was happening was not an attack, at least not from Tomas.  
  
The parts of the Cloth itself disengaged themselves from his body and hovered over his form. Oblivious to the onlookers, the pieces then floated towards where Arion and Luis were. Arion stepped back hurriedly and they all watched the pieces of the Cloth, via some trick of false perspective, seem to grow and expand without actually changing size, and attach themselves to Luis's form, fitting perfectly. A clear emerald glow blazed around him for a moment and Luis said something that June couldn't quite make out, but might have been "Thank you, Athena". Then, with a convulsive spasm, his head rolled back and he died.  
  
Several seconds later, the Cloth removed itself from his body and reformed itself beside him. In its complete representational form it was a coiled, rearing, yellow serpent; half anaconda, half cobra with hood extended. It seemed to be standing guard over the man who had, at the last, been the true Serpens Saint.  
  
Arion slumped against the wall, exhausted and depressed, and let his head hang in his hands. He barely noticed the hand on his shoulder.  
  
"Your first combat?"  
  
He shook his head at June's question.  
  
"Your first fatality?"  
  
This time he nodded.  
  
"This might not help you at the moment, but my sensei told me that if I ever had to kill anyone, even in self defence, and found it hard to handle, that I should pray to Athena that it never, ever got any easier. As soon as taking a life became something that was easy to live with then I was unworthy to be a Saint." "Wise words." came Rana's soft voice, totally controlled, totally sincere. "You gave him every opportunity to yield, Arion, and then tried to save his life. He felt that he was serving Athena, and none of us should ask for more. You did nothing to be ashamed of and, in his way, neither did he."  
  
The ensuing silence was broken only by the sobs of Tomas, who seemed to have bee n drawn out of his shock by the action of his Cloth. It was hard to tell who he was crying for, his lost comrade or his lost Cloth. He started babbling aloud and the other Saints came closer, to listen to whatever was so important to him.  
  
"... Luis and I have been friends since childhood. We were cousins, we grew up next to each other and we did everything together. When the time came, we trained for the Serpens Cloth together. We were completely different from each other in style; Luis was always bigger and stronger, but I was faster and smarter, he knew how to fight better, but I was sneakier. We were the perfect team because we were so dissimilar. Anything one couldn't handle the other could."  
  
"Each of us knew that the only way to win the Cloth was to kill the other, and that neither of us could do that. We were family, and closer than family because of our training. We both knew how each other walked, talked, thought, reacted to any situation.  
  
"When we became the finalists in the challenge of single combat it was an impossible situation. We were TOO well qualified to fight each other, but we did, knowing that the other would expect no less from us than our best, otherwise we could never be able to feel that we had truly won."  
  
"We fought for over eight hours non-stop, and had still come no closer to defeating each other. Every move he made I dodged, but every move I made, he blocked. He was stronger, I was faster. We appealed to our trainer, but she insisted that we continue. That it was the only way to prove ourselves to Athena. Shaina was a hard task-master. According to legend the Serpent Bearer and the Serpent should function together and she took a keen interest in our training."  
  
June made a mental note to ask Shaina about this at the earliest opportunity.  
  
"Did either of you ever consider just not competing for the Cloth?" she asked curiously.  
  
"Of course not, that would be unthinkable, we'd spent too many years in training for it. Then... a third party shall we say, who had been observing from the Sanctuary, suggested an idea that was so simple it was outrageous. Why not simply share the Cloth? We would use those parts that were best suited to our styles, and let the other use the remainder. If anything were to happen to either of us, then the other could use the complete Cloth. Athena would have two Saints instead of one for as long as possible."  
  
"And that is what we did, the Cloth seemed to allow it, though I think our friend who suggested it did... something that made it possible, we were never sure what. Shaina would have nothing to do with either of us, she felt we were making a mockery of the Cloth, so she turned all her attention to another student of hers named Cassius."  
  
"So what happened here, why did the Cloth leave you?"  
  
"Don't you understand? The Cloth finally chose for itself which Saint it really wanted. It picked Luis over me! After all this time, it picked him!"  
  
"Do you know why?" It was clear Rana felt that Tomas should know the answer and just wanted to hear him confirm it.  
  
"It's obvious. He was prepared to die for his cause, in the name of Athena. That's the commitment the Cloth wanted, and he showed it. The fact he was dying at the time wasn't important to it, the fact I was smarter than he was wasn't important. It simply wanted the Saint who was the most loyal and committed to Athena, and that turned out to be Luis. He will die with honour, whilst I, I have nothing."  
  
"No Tomas, you do have something, you have shame." A new voice came from the doorway. June looked up and almost immediately fell on one knee. Daichi followed a little reluctantly, and then Rana and Arion followed suit a moment later.  
  
Saori Kido stood there. Tatsumi was, as usual, behind her in his ill- fitting dinner jacket. Also with her were Jabu, the handsome but arrogant Unicorn Saint; Ichi, the disturbingly crazed Bronze Hydra Saint, and Geki, the massive Bear Saint. None of these were the sort of people sane men wanted mad at them, and as such they made a very effective bodyguard.  
  
"Luis may have been misguided, but he thought he served Athena and knew no better, you convinced him of that. For his faith he will be remembered with honour as the true Serpens Saint. You Tomas, no matter how you may justify it to yourself, knew that the Kyoko was lying, but you weren't prepared to risk anything that might lose you your share of the Cloth. I wonder how many combats you incited or aggravated, in the hope that Luis would be killed and you would inherit the rest."  
  
"That's not true, it's not. Luis was my best friend, but I SHOULD have been the Serpens Saint from the start."  
  
"If you had shown the level of commitment to Athena that you showed towards your own greed you probably would have been. As it is, the Cloth has rejected you, and it will not accept you again. I have made sure of that."  
  
"Says a spoiled little Japanese rich girl."  
  
"Says Athena, Tomas, accept it." Saori's voice was flat and emphatic. "The Cloths are mine."  
  
She turned her back on Tomas, dismissing him from her attention, and went over to where Luis lay. When she spoke, it was with profound sadness.  
  
"Luis, I wish you had been able to serve Athena in a way we might both have wished. I would have been honoured to have you as one of my Saints. Those that misled you will face my justice, this I vow." She indicated to Jabu and Geki that they should take the body away. Tatsumi was instructed to call the Police, and inform them of events. Then she turned to face the fledgling Honour Guard, who had now got to their feet.  
  
"I had thought to simply come and brief you all, and then wish you well in your endeavours. I hadn't expected to be presented by examples of your skill quite so soon. June and Daichi I have met in the past, and am proud to say I know well."  
  
Pleased at the acknowledgement, June peered round to see Daichi's reaction, thinking it might cheer him up, but, though he was still on one knee, the look in his face was thunderous.  
  
"Rana, Arion. Today you have proven to me that the esteem your Masters held you in was justified. Your commitment to the cause of Athena is appreciated."  
  
She looked around at the chaotic mess of the once elegant room and "I also see you are following the example of my other Bronze Saints by causing the maximum amount of property damage in the minimum time. As a goddess, I am not used to having to travel by freight elevator because someone has demolished the passenger lift." At this point her haughty demeanour gave way to a broad grin. Arion smiled and, behind her mask, so did June. She hoped Rana did too, but Daichi's face was still frozen in a scowl.  
  
"It's good to see you can improvise in an emergency too, judging by the.. residue... that rescue must have taken some inventive quick-thinking. Do not become complacent however, this pair of half-Saints were likely among the weakest foes available to our enemies. They were sent to test your mettle. Now that our enemies know that those they face are strong, they will send more experienced, more powerful opponents. I have no doubt that your cosmo will burn strong against them."  
  
She turned to face Daichi "And as for you Daichi, my secret weapon, my Steel Saint. You may not have cosmo, but your courage will make up for that. Come, I would talk with you privately for a moment. I will return to speak to you all again, but the two of us have matters to discuss."  
  
She drew the reluctant Daichi to one of the empty living quarters and sat down on one of the beds, she gestured for him to sit down next to her.  
  
"Daichi. I'd hoped to speak to you before I asked you to risk your life for me again. I know what you must be thinking about me, risking others for my own benefit, but believe me it isn't like that. I want you to know that if I could personally do anything to help cure Sho, I'd be doing it, but it's beyond the scope of my powers. I can help heal a body with cosmo, but the spirit is sacrosanct and I may not interfere."  
  
"Every expert the Glaude Foundation can find is looking at every possibility and will continue to do so for as long as it may take. Your brother will have the very best of care for as long as he might need it, the VERY best! He was hurt defending me, and I won't forget that, nor forgive those who harmed him." Daichi just nodded glumly. Saori could see that something more was needed here.  
  
"If you would like to stop being a Steel Saint then you have only to say so, no one would hold it against you if you just wanted to try and be a normal boy again, I could arrange for a foster family to take you in, or you could become a ward of court in my care. Whatever you'd like to do is fine with me, honestly." Daichi's voice was filled with anger as he spoke; "I want things to be the way they were, me and Sho and Ushio, but they can't be, can they? I want to go back to being a normal kid, but my body is stuffed full of electronics and implants. So all I really have left is to make sure that the person who ruined things pays for it properly."  
  
Saori felt for a moment that that might mean her but Daichi continued.  
  
"And I'm going to make sure he does pay, in ways he can't even imagine yet."  
  
Saori was not surprised by the sentiment, but worried about the possible consequences. The part of her that was Athena put her next words into her mouth.  
  
"Daichi, tell me honestly. Is the desire for vengeance enough for you?"  
  
"It's all I have now. Yes, it is enough."  
  
"And will it bring back Sho, or make life better for you?  
  
"No, I know that, but it'll do."  
  
It would be dangerous to push him at this stage, Saori felt. June and the other Saints would hopefully be able to break down a few barriers in time, and by the time he faced off against the Antlia Saint he might be better prepared to realise the futility of pure vengeance. Time enough to worry about that situation when it arose.  
  
"Okay, I'll accept that, but remember what I've said. You have nothing to prove to anyone now, and if you want to leave, just say so at any time. I wouldn't leave you with anyone I didn't trust completely. You can trust your comrades with anything you want to talk about. I have it on the best authority that June is very good at talking through problems with green haired kids. Arion too, in his way, and Rana.. let's just say that it's worth the effort it can take to get to know her. Promise me you'll talk to them when you feel ready?"  
  
Daichi nodded, still not happy, unsurprisingly, but seemingly a bit more confident.  
  
"You stay here for the moment Daichi, I'll call you when I'm ready to talk to you all. And in the meantime, think about what I've said." She turned back towards him as she stood at the door "And remember that it's all right to cry, Daichi, honestly it is. I've even seen the Phoenix Saint cry."  
  
She left the room and went back to main lounge area. June was standing with her head tilted at an enquiring angle, watching Rana as she placed the various pieces of her Cloth back into their representational form in her Chest. With a final swirl of cosmo Rana's bodysuit transformed back into the black dress and slippers she had first been wearing. Within the Chest the blue metal had the shape of a figure possibly male, possibly female, half submerged in a river. Rana stood and walked calmly back to the kitchen, her feet clicking on the tiles.  
  
Suddenly June snapped her fingers silently, as if realising something. Saori was impressed but not surprised, she'd have taken far longer to work out Rana's secret if she hadn't already known from her sensei's introductory letter.  
  
A now seemingly recovered Arion was talking with Ichi, Geki, Jabu and Tatsumi, and already they were chatting like old friends, no mean feat considering the volatile mix of personalities, Tatsumi was even smiling about something and Jabu was sharing the joke. Arion's personality was practically a cosmo power in itself, and probably more useful than many.  
  
Saori nodded to herself, an interesting mix this Honour Guard was going to be, especially when their ranks were complete. And they'd need to be complete soon, if her enemy was moving against her so quickly.  
  
She went over to the broken window and looked down at the Serpens Cloth which was still sitting on the floor. She heard Tatsumi automatically move in behind her, nervous about her falling out the broken window probably. She had finally managed to make him stop making a fool of himself by shouting at her whenever she started to do something he perceived as dangerous, but still he hovered. Perhaps a small demonstration of who she really was might help.  
  
"Watch closely Tatsumi" She stretched her arms wide and let her cosmo burn bright. She could feel the persona of Athena start to grow within her as she did so, bringing with it the awareness and perceptions of the goddess. From somewhere in the city there came an echo of a Cloth chest, like a sympathetic vibration reacting to her cosmo. Focusing on that, she summoned it to her. Moments later a chest made of a blue metal rose into the air from a distant building and flew through the air towards her. It lowered itself to the floor at her feet.  
  
"Tatsumi, have the building it came from searched, it may yield useful information. Pay particular attention to the east-facing room on the third floor with the broken window." Bowing, he turned to talk to Jabu. She knelt, opening the Chest and, waving aside the offer of help from Geki, lifted the Serpens Cloth into it. Despite her best efforts, she struggled under its weight and it might have slipped, if Arion hadn't dived forward to help her steady the load. Embarrassed, she still managed to smile as they manoeuvred it into place and closed the Chest. She'd take it back to the Sanctuary for now.  
  
"Hardly the best of impressions for a goddess to make, is it? Dropping one of her own Sacred Cloths". He grinned back and some small part of her felt herself blush slightly.  
  
"Fallibility has its endearing side Miss Kido. You were trying to do the right thing out of respect for one of your followers, I'd say that was a good start for a goddess." He went back to talking to where June and Geki were now talking.  
  
As soon as he was gone Saori's thoughts were troubled again. The Serpens Cloth, split between two people? It shouldn't be possible, it wasn't the sort of thing Saga would have approved of, and not even Mu could have had that sort of effect, even if his neutrality would have allowed him to do so. Who else would have that sort of power and authority..?  
  
It was going to be a long, hard battle. She knew the Honour Guard would be able to face it. She hoped she'd be able to give them the strength they needed when they required it, otherwise all her battles, all her Saints' sacrifices, might be in vain.  
  
It was not a comforting thought to carry into a strategy session, so she put it to the back of her mind, and turned to gather her Honour Guard around her. 


	2. Chapter 2

THE HONOUR GUARD - Part 2 - Getting to Know You..  
  
A St Seiya fanfic by Icon Based on St Seiya by Masami Kuruada.  
  
Completely unauthorised. No permission has been given, no offence has been intended.  
  
The dinner had been an uncomfortable experience for the new Honour Guard, to say the very least. It's hard to sit down and eat in a room where, only hours previously, you've been fighting for your life. The body-outline the police had left on the carpet hadn't helped. Being a Saint of Athena meant that there would very likely be dead bodies in your future, but dispassionate reminders didn't help.  
  
There had also been the matter of the emergency services to deal with. The police were very much aware of the various goings on of the Glaude Foundation and it's more... flamboyant representatives. June had discovered that there was even a police radio code for such events, categorised rather innocently as "Exceptional Ability Incidents".  
  
As owner of one of the most powerful business empires in the world (and as de facto leader of an independent city state similar to the Vatican) Saori had extraordinary political influence, and she used it without embarrassment or hesitation.  
  
A short phone call to a contact in the Government had resulted in only the most perfunctory of investigations being carried out, then a discrete withdrawal by the authorities. They took Luis with them to be charged, pending extradition proceedings to Sanctuary being requested. This was something most governments were only too happy to accede to as the complications of imprisoning a supernaturally powered Saint were too numerous to even think about.  
  
In this case, no members of the general public had been injured, video footage from the suites security cameras confirmed that Arion had killed in self-defence and had also tried to save his attacker. Property damage would be repaired at the Glaude's Foundations expense, and so it was best to treat the matter as quietly as possible.  
  
June had to admit it made life easier, though it bothered her at an ethical level. Still, it was Saori's decision, not hers.  
  
However, by the time it had all been sorted out, it was too late to have much of a meeting and Saori had rescheduled for the following day. When Tatsumi had gone to great pains to point out to them that Saori had broken arrangements with several extremely important people to see them again, Saori had forcefully reminded him that these were extremely important people in her opinion, and he had practically fallen over himself to apologise to her. June found it very easy to believe the horror stories that Shun had told her about this man, and had to restrain an almost overwhelming urge to break his jaw on general principle. If Saori kept him around he must have some redeeming feature... though whatever it might be, he hid it very well.  
  
With that Saori and her entourage had left them to their meal.  
  
The other problem was caused by the complications arising from mixed-sex meals. These were rare events amongst Saint's for the very good reason that a screen had to be erected between the male and female Saints so that the females could take their masks off to eat. The theoretical alternative was that the female Saints would either have to get married to their dinner companions, or kill them. Neither of which, June had pointed out, would do much for the atmosphere. Even that small attempt at levity had fallen rather flat.  
  
They solved the problem by having Arion and Daichi eat in the kitchen (Arion muttering something about having to make household repairs too), June and Rana in the main room. They left the connecting door to the dining area open so they could still talk. It was not an ideal situation, but was quick to arrange, and satisfied the niceties.  
  
Rana ate nothing, saying that she was fasting. June knew there was another reason, but this was not the time to take that topic further.  
  
- - - -  
  
Apart from during the battle itself, Daichi had spent most of the evening lost in his own thoughts. Returning, as usual, to the happier times of his life, then THAT day, and finally to the meeting he'd had with the Professor that morning.  
  
To Daichi's knowledge, the Professor hadn't so much as smiled since the day of Sho's accident. He wasn't really surprised as that, since neither had he.  
  
"Daichi, we have another problem, Ushio took off by himself and we lost his signal three days ago. Either he's deliberately blocked us out, or his Cloth has been damaged. Either way..."  
  
"Normally I'd send you out to look for him immediately, but Miss Kido from the Foundation has been in touch. She wants you to report to the Foundations Tokyo Office for a special mission, starting tonight. She wouldn't say what it was, but says that it takes precedence over all other matters."  
  
Daichi had merely nodded, he felt no particular loyalty towards Saori Kido at that moment, but he had sworn a vow, and that would never be broken, it would dishonour them all, especially the Professor and Sho. Besides, Ushio was a loner who had disappeared before. Never completely comfortable around other people, he took every opportunity to spend days underwater. It was worrying that his signal had been offline for so long, but it wasn't unheard of.  
  
"I don't know how long Miss Kido will need you for, but she seemed to think it could be for a while, and will involve travel abroad. We're overhauling your Cloth now and preparing the portable carrier unit for long term use."  
  
Daichi nodded, clearly thinking about other things. The Professor sighed. "Look Daichi, if you don't want to go through with this, then I'll make apologies to Miss Kido, she'll understand."  
  
"No, she wouldn't ask for me if it wasn't important. All the real Saints must be busy or something." "Daichi, you and the others are real Saints, whether you believe that or not right now." On his way out of the meeting, one of the computer programmers stopped him in the corridor. He knew her but couldn't remember her name. She was one of the computer programming prodigies who had played a key role in the design of several vital control systems in the Steel Cloths. He knew Sho had been friendly with her too. Though normally shy, and self-conscious about her pronounced harelip, she stopped Daichi before he could leave.  
  
"This is what I think you've been wanting". She pressed a small device into his hand. He looked at it, it was about the size of a credit card but had a row of short wires running along one side. He recognised it's design immediately; he had several of his own, programmable memory cartridges with a neural interface that augmented his systems for specific purposes. He'd never seen one quite like this before though, there were additions to the circuitry that were definitely non-standard.  
  
"I've been working on this since... since it happened. The Professor doesn't know, I know he wouldn't approve of it, but I want to see justice done too. You said you wanted to make Sisyphus suffer in ways he'd never dreamed of. Well use this and I promise you he will!" Her calm tone was chilling. "Why would you do this?", was all Daichi could think to ask.  
  
She looked him straight in the eyes, and he noticed for the first time they were a very pretty hazel colour, unusual for a Japanese. "Because it was my voice that Sho asked to listen to... in his head."  
  
With that she'd vanished as quickly as she'd appeared. Daichi had seen tears appearing in her eyes and thought to go after her, but decided to leave her her dignity. There'd be time to examine the cartridge later, so he stowed it safely in his belt and went on.  
  
And so he had set out to meet his fellow members of the Honour Guard...  
  
And now a few hours later here he was, in the aftermath of an attempt on all their lives by two Saints working for an unknown enemy.  
  
He looked around at Arion, and wondered what he was thinking. As for himself, he was feeling lonely again and missed having someone to talk to. Maybe he should take Saori's advice and talk to Arion, or June (Rana he discounted as being too stand-offish). He didn't know either of them really, but Saori's recommendation was, perhaps, enough. He looked again at Arion's expression, and knew there would be a better time than this to talk, and that he did not have a monopoly on troubled thoughts. - - - - Long into the night, Saori Kido sat in her private business room in the Kido mansion. Finally, she sat in front of a large computer, waiting for a signal to be acknowledged. With a beeping sound the face of the new Keeper of the Athenaeum appeared on the screen.  
  
Since the "unfortunate" fate of the previous holder of the post, Saori Kido hadn't reappointed the position of Kyoko, feeling it would be a while until anyone, herself included, felt comfortable with that particular title. It would also let her assert her own authority more.  
  
She had been determined to make a clean sweep of the Sanctuary staff who might have been traitorously loyal to Saga. As it turned out, Saga had significantly reduced the number of high-ranking staff members so as to reduce the possibility of being found out in his machinations. He had actually appointed his toadying servant Gigars into several key positions simultaneously. The Gold Saints who had not actually been loyal to Saga had barely noticed such political comings and goings, intent as always on their own tasks.  
  
Saori had been keen that as many as possible of the old positions be reinstated. She had been pleased to find that, in keeping with the role of Athena as goddess of wisdom as well as war, there was a second position equal in responsibility to the Kyoko; the Keeper of the Athenaeum. A combination administrator, archivist and librarian, technically the Keeper outranked the Kyoko in all but matters concerning security and theology, though there was usually a harmonious working relationship established, or in Gigars case, complete subordination to Saga.  
  
Contained in vast and seemingly endless chambers carved within the Mountains of Sanctuary itself, the Athenaeum was considered to be the foremost repository of written knowledge on the face of the Earth. It had a legendary reputation amongst scholars and was spoken of with the same reverential tones as the Library of Alexandria, and had the distinct advantage of being intact.  
  
Even the Vatican Library didn't come close to the Athenaeum. Only the whispered-of Bibliotheca Occulta of the Illuminati and the Library of Dreams might possibly match it. However, as only a handful knew where the Bibliotheca was hidden from one year to the next, and there was no real proof that the Library of Dreams even existed, comparisons were hard to make.  
  
The Athenaeum's halls contained works of scholarly research from representatives of the arts and scientists of every era, as well as works of fiction from the most noted writers in history. Original works by Homer, Pythagorus (All first hand dictations) and Socrates were but the minutest fraction of its contents. For centuries, it had been considered one of the highest honours for a writer or scholar to have a work requested by the Keeper of the Athenaeum. Other historical works were forever being sought out by agents of Sanctuary.  
  
Notable works included a paper on anatomy by Leonardo Da Vinci, Paracelsus' alchemical notebook, two new sonnets by Shakespeare (With impeccable providence), a paper on tactics by Napoleon, a particularly obscene (and hysterically funny) short story ascribed to Sun T'zu, the annotated oral tradition of two now-extinct Native American tribes (How they had been obtained was unclear, but their legitimacy was unimpeachable), the first draft of "Huckleberry Finn" (Including the original, far more controversial, ending), Freud's doctoral treatise and an unpublished Sherlock Holmes story (Though Conan Doyle had made it clear that he did not wish to be remembered merely for Holmes, the Keeper at the time knew what would intrigue the future most, and eventually the author had acquiesced, on condition that one of his papers on spiritualism be included too).  
  
Saori had taken the unprecedented step of publicly advertising for the position of Keeper, determined to break the cycle of nepotism and xenophobia that had been rife throughout the history of the Saints of Athena. Adverts had been placed in national newspapers across the globe. There had been over six and a half thousand applicants, from every major place of learning on the planet, and numerous private concerns. Eminent historians, writers and scholars of every persuasion had sought the post.  
  
Her eventual appointment had shocked the academic world, and if she were being honest, herself too. Rather than one of the famous scholars, she had appointed a young man of seventeen with impressive academic qualifications, but little in the way of practical experience. She wasn't even sure why she'd picked him, but a voice had whispered "Yes, this one." in the back of her mind as soon as she had picked up his letter of recommendation, and she was learning to listen to that voice very closely.  
  
The young man in question had been a prodigy, earning a double degree in Languages at the age of eleven, and a PhD less than a year after that. He had a gift for languages that went beyond talent and seemed to border on the supernatural. He already read and spoke twelve tongues fluently (including Ancient Greek, Latin, Middle English and Mandarin) and was able to get by in a further nine, so far. He also had an eidetic memory and a positive gift for computers, which she had felt were long overdue for an introduction into Sanctuary. Too much knowledge could be lost due to as simple a thing as a fire, as Alexandria had proved.  
  
There had been much sniping from the academic world (and the popular tabloids) about her choice of yet another young man to add to her personal staff, but she ignored such comments and appointed him anyway.  
  
Joseph had brown eyes, sandy brown hair, and was cheerfully average in all respects other than languages. Whilst not exactly unfit, he wouldn't have lasted three seconds against even the most junior of the Trainee Saints in Sanctuary. He was also the only person in all of the Sanctuary to need glasses, but he was extraordinarily good at his work and that was what counted.  
  
Joseph's first move had been a political masterstroke that spoke well for the future, requesting the help of the rejected candidates to volunteer to aid him in reducing the chaos that the Athenaeum had been left in. The only condition he had insisted on was that any scholarly papers resulting from the work be co-credited to the Athenaeum and it's staff. This, in one move, showed up those who had sought the post for purely personal advancement, and encouraged those who had actually been inspired by love of knowledge.  
  
His enthusiasm and skill in translating old materials had quieted many of the more vocal objectors in short order, and his open admission of areas where he needed assistance helped even more, as had the occasional times he had been forced to impose his authority. There was something rather bizarre about seeing fifty-year old academics getting into a fist fight over a scrap of parchment, but it had happened more than once.  
  
His public estimation went up enormously with the opening of Sanctuary's first web-site, giving free access to otherwise lost texts that were now available to all those who cared to read them.  
  
After four months and countless man hours, the Archives were open again, and writers from all over the world had been approached. Now new and unique works by Eco, Pratchett, Greer, Asimov, Hawking, Barnes, Amis and Angelou (to name but a few) graced its shelves. Some had refused, calling it élitist, but those with an eye towards history had joined in willingly.  
  
The only thing Joseph had balked at were the embarrassingly elaborate robes that the post usually required (especially the ornate owl-shaped coronet, which he wasn't even sure he could lift, never mind wear). He had been thankful when Saori had compromised that the robes could be reserved for formal ceremonies. He returned the gesture by wearing the traditional Grecian-style tunics favoured by most of the residents of Sanctuary.  
  
Saori did insist on a gold circlet as a token indication of rank. This was also part of the Keepers traditional regalia, though the gemstone normally set in it's brow had last been seen in Gigars eye-socket. Even if they could track him down, no one was certain how the stone could be removed anyway, so the subject was dropped and the circlet left open at the brow.  
  
He sat in what was formally his office, a large room whose only natural light came from a small window high in the wall, which stretched through about 10 feet of solid mountain-side before it actually hit daylight.  
  
From what she could see, his office was still crammed with books, but the huge and ancient desk had been removed to the far wall, and several smaller, more modern desks and computer workstations had been installed.  
  
From his Office the Keeper could locate almost any information in the Athenaeum as well as access the Glaude Foundation's information resources. The sophisticated communications system was one which Joseph had helped design.  
  
"Konichiwa Athena-sama". His Japanese accent was flawless.  
  
"Good evening Joseph", Saori replied in rather more halting English, but making the gesture of returning the compliment. She bowed her head to the screen.  
  
He blushed. "I do wish you wouldn't do that, Miss Kido, it doesn't seem right somehow."  
  
Saori fixed him with a slightly stern look; "The Goddess of Wisdom always acknowledges the Keeper of the Athenaeum. Knowledge is the keystone of Wisdom."  
  
"I've been meaning to ask, Miss Kido. Do you bow to the Kyoko, when you have one?"  
  
"Certainly not! The Kyoko is my Lord Spiritual and is automatically subordinate to his goddess. The Keeper is my Lord Temporal and is generally a lot smarter than I am. Besides, it's a tradition that the incarnation of Athena acknowledge the Keeper, and I don't argue with tradition."  
  
"Says the goddess who appointed her elite personal bodyguard from the lowest rank of her Saints." He realised he had spoken aloud and bit his lower lip, wondering if he had gone too far.  
  
Saori smiled, that was just the kind of thinking she wanted more of in the Sanctuary. People who might think differently from herself, but wouldn't be afraid to say it to her face, and give her their honest opinions (Seiya notwithstanding of course, he spoke his mind about EVERYTHING, even when asked not to). "I didn't say I couldn't be a nonconformist when the need arose, Joseph. Anyway, thank you for waiting for my call, I know it's late."  
  
"Never a problem Miss Kido. I assume this is.. concerning that matter we discussed when we last saw each other."  
  
"Yes, it is. The plan is going ahead is scheduled, though our meeting proper has been delayed until tomorrow. Expect initial contact from them within the next 24 hours, probably afternoon your time." "I'll be waiting, I can't wait to see if this works."  
  
"It has in the past, it will again now. Have faith Joseph."  
  
"Could I work for a goddess if I didn't, Miss Kido?"  
  
Saori smiled briefly and broke the connection.  
  
- - - - -  
  
The following morning, June automatically rose before dawn, a habit carried over from her days of training. She was far from being a morning person by nature, but Saints didn't really get that much chance to be picky about such things. Generally speaking though, Athena help anyone who crossed her in her first hour after rising.  
  
She'd stayed up later than the others too. She'd been concerned about Daichi enough to sneak out to call the Kido mansion. Shun had given her the number a while ago, though she'd never had cause to use it before. Tatsumi had answered, and it had taken her over five minutes to argue him into fetching Saori for her, despite how often she stressed the importance.  
  
Saori had, after apologising for Tatsumi's behaviour, explained the sad fate of the Air Steel Saint, which explained Daichi's mood. Even after she slipped back in to the penthouse, trying to think of ways to help had kept her up for a while longer, but nothing obvious had sprung to mind.  
  
Since the Saints had more or less the free run of the building, including it's staff facilities, she went down to the gymnasium, hoping she'd have some time to herself. She suspected it wouldn't be long before the others joined her. If there was one thing she was sure of about being a Saint, they all required plenty of exercise.  
  
When she walked in she saw that she was the first person there. Rather than move straight into the usual kata and callisthenics, she decided to test her concealment abilities again. The incident with Rana had annoyed her more than she was prepared to admit. If she could hide in plain sight from the others as they came in, she'd be more confident in her skills.  
  
She sniffed at a rosin dish built into one of the walls, even through her mask her nose wrinkled at the smell but it would do. She took two handfuls and scattered one high into the air. The second she took with her as she scaled one of the many sets of wall bars and settled herself in place, before sprinkling herself with more of the powder. It was enough to make her almost choke, and it might be enough to mask her smell enough to fool even Rana. She controlled her breathing until her chest hardly moved, no sound would give her away.  
  
About three minutes later, the doors swung open and Rana walked in. As well as her mask, she was wearing training gear much like June's own, a dark singlet and leggings, with flat hide boots and leather arm straps. She paused on the threshold, her head craning around as if trying to find anything out of place but, seemingly satisfied, moved in.  
  
Silently, June watched the tall girl pace around the gym, her outstretched hand running along the wall, footsteps clicking. When she got back to her original position she moved into the precise centre of the room and dropped into a smooth and flowing series of exercises. There was no cosmo here, just graceful movement and control. Rana stretched and arched, bent and moved. It was almost a dance, but not quite, her muscles indicated a great deal of power behind her movements, as graceful as ballet, but as potentially deadly as any form of combat imaginable.  
  
To hell with stealth, time to get proof positive about a theory, June leapt from her vantage point towards Rana.  
  
Before she could even land, Rana had turned in mid exercise, and launched herself into the air. She grabbed June's ankle in passing and made a twisting motion. June found herself flying in a completely different direction than intended, and only just managed to spin round to catch one of the wall bars. She dropped to the floor, to find Rana facing her, left arm in a defensive posture, right arm poised cobra-like, ready to attack.  
  
"Rana! It's me, June."  
  
"I know. So?"  
  
"You didn't need to attack me."  
  
"No? I met you for the first time yesterday, after you tried to hide yourself away to spy on us. You didn't move to attack either of the Serpens Saints when we were attacked. Then you sneak out for twenty minutes last night.. oh yes, I heard you. Today I come in here, the air is thick with rosin dust that wouldn't be in the air if the place were empty, and the next moment you dive to attack me. What grounds do I have to trust you? I've already risked my life for Athena, what have you risked?"  
  
"I've proved myself to Athena more than you know, I don't need to prove anything to anyone other than myself."  
  
"Well, that's hardly a conducive attitude to teamwork is it? Keeping secrets"  
  
June felt her fists clenching again anger building up inside her, the worst part of the feeling was knowing that was Rana was right. The Eridanus Saints' actions so far had been exemplary, alert for danger, defeating a foe of Athena, taking nothing for granted. June on the other hand, had come across like a sulky child in a fit of pique.  
  
However, there was one matter that June decided needed to be discussed then and there. Since conversational gambits seem to be wasted on Rana, she decided on the direct approach.  
  
"You are definitely not one to talk on that score Rana. When were you planning on telling us that you're blind?"  
  
If June was expected a more vehement response she was disappointed. Rana's head twisted quizzically, then she shrugged and replied simply. "So, you worked it out did you?"  
  
"That's just the sort of attitude that's going to cause problems. We're part of a team Rana, that implies some degree of trust, and that means you being able to tell us something as major as that." "It's not major to me. And we've already discussed the matter of trust."  
  
The dark-masked girl was silent for moment and then almost as if she couldn't help herself, asked "I am curious though, how you worked it out so quickly. Most people take far longer, if they realise it at all."  
  
"There were a few things. Little things. The way you move for one, your movements are very tight, very controlled. Your arms are always in close against your body when you walk, but your fingers are always splayed slightly, as if ready to feel something. "  
  
"Then there's the fact that your slippers made a clicking noise when you walked, and you avoided walking on carpets when you could. You even moved your fight with Serpens Caput so you were both on the hardwood floor. I'm guessing you use studs on your soles instead of a cane."  
  
"I have a cane too, but I find the shoes more convenient."  
  
"Then there's the kitchen last night, you were moving around in there, but there were no lights on, like it didn't make a difference to you. Arion had to replace a bulb."  
  
"I wondered if anyone would notice that, I found the switch in the kitchen, but I didn't know the bulb was broken until Arion mentioned it later. Observation and deduction? The Chamaeleonis Saint watches almost as much as she hides."  
  
"Actually I'm impressed, to be able to function as well as you do implies you focus a lot more on your other senses. You're hearing must be much better than most."  
  
"A common misconception, a blind person's other senses are no more sensitive than anyone else's. We just use them better, pay more attention to them. Most Saints already do the same, so it shouldn't come as a surprise to you."  
  
"I haven't had much experience around blind people, so I don't know what the procedure is." Though Rana's voice was calm, her body language was tense. "There is no procedure. I'm not a 'blind person', I'm a person. I just happen to be blind too. I've been able to function quite well for the last seventeen years, and I don't need your pity now."  
  
June snorted slightly, "Oh please, I wasn't planning on pitying you. I've seen you fight, I'll save the pity for whoever you're up against."  
  
She saw Rana's shoulders relax ever so slightly at that and was grateful.  
  
"Did you know Shiryu the Bronze Dragon Saint was blind for a time? He had to blind himself to defeat the Perseus Saint. His eyes regenerated during the Battle for Sanctuary when he fought the Gold Cancer Saint."  
  
"I'm glad for him, I've heard he is a magnificent warrior. However that would not work in my case. If you are so interested in my blindness.. see..." Rana reached up and carefully took off her mask.  
  
What June saw underneath caused her to gasp audibly... it was...  
  
"I have a Gold Saint to thank for my condition, and I intend to, someday soon."  
  
Still staring in horror, June fumbled for words but couldn't think of anything appropriate. She felt she had to say something..  
  
"Kia ora all!" Arion strode in wearing swimming trunks and an appallingly cheerful grin. A towel was hanging around his neck.  
  
"Oh sacred Athena! He's a morning person, I'm going to have to kill him." muttered June, a little too quickly and a little too loudly. She had rarely been so grateful for an interruption.  
  
Though she wouldn't have sworn it under oath, June thought she might have seen the trace of a smile touching the edge of Rana's mouth before her mask was slipped back on. Rana had had her back to the door when Arion had come in, so her secret was intact.  
  
Arion was oblivious, "Has anyone noticed if there's a pool round here?"  
  
Rana pointed towards a door on her left. "It's through there."  
  
"Yeah, and it smells salinated, not chlorinated! Saori certainly seems to have thought of everything." He set off towards the door, still smiling.  
  
June called after him "Don't get too used with the creature comforts, I'm guessing we leave this afternoon for wherever Saori sends us."  
  
"All the more reason to enjoy it while I can. Anyway, she may send us somewhere with a shoreline." June turned away and shook her head. No-one should be that happy or positive first thing in the morning. She found that Rana had walked away and was going through her exercises again. Shrugging, June decided to do the same.  
  
- - - - -  
  
When the speedometer had read 75 miles an hour for twenty minutes, Daichi stepped off the faintly smoking treadmill. It was not a standard model, and Daichi had a feeling it had been welded together from tank parts, but it had withstood the gruelling speed he could generate for longer than he had thought likely.  
  
On the other side of the gymnasium Arion and June were sparring and Rana was meditating. For June and Arion it was more of a test of each other reaction time than anything else; one would attack, the other would avoid or block. They weren't wearing their Cloth's or using cosmo, just speed and agility. Neither left the two metre wide chalk ring they had agreed upon. The first one to move outside the ring would lose.  
  
Rana had walked in on their exercise session from the pool and without a word had assumed the lotus position. Somehow, the sunlight streaming in through the high window seemed to miss her entirely, she sat in a pool of shadow. Small tendrils of darkness seemed to crawl across her body, though they were hard to catch sight of.  
  
Almost idly, Daichi put on his helmet and once the optical contacts had been made watched his new team-mates closely. He didn't bother with the rest of his Cloth, but the helmet better augmented his vision.  
  
Rana's appearance still seemed odd. The darkness seemed to extend beyond the visible spectrum, he got fuzzy images in infra red and beyond the ultra violet. Something to examine later. He turned his attention to the other pair. It seemed that June was better at dodging Arion's blows, but he was better at blocking hers. This meant that he was at a disadvantage as she was scoring strikes, he didn't give much ground though. Daichi noticed no clumsiness on Arion's part this time. His movements were confident though he had little of the intense energy of some martial artists.  
  
June spoke, breaking the silence, "So tell me Arion, I noticed when you were fighting Serpens that you didn't use a kia."  
  
"A what?"  
  
"You know, a kia, a battle cry."  
  
"Oh, a battle cry, no I didn't use one. I don't have one. Besides, "kia" has another meaning where I'm from."  
  
"A Saint who doesn't have named attack? I don't think I've ever come across that. No 'Dolphin Crash', no 'Rolling Fin', not even a 'Bottlenose Strike'?"  
  
"Well, for starters I'd use better English if I did have one. My Sensei taught me it was more important to take your enemy down than impress him with your skills, and announcing what moves you were going to attack them with seemed silly. He said if I felt the need to shout, to just yell."  
  
"Well MY master said that if you earn a reputation worth fearing then new opponents could be frightened at the thought of facing your ultimate attack."  
  
"Hmmmm, there is that argument I supposes. Anyway I did most of my training underwater. Have you ever tried to shout anything underwater? It'd be a waste of air when all anyone could make out is 'Burble burble glub'."  
  
Daichi smiled slightly at the mental image. He felt he should add something to the conversation. "Why did you train underwater?"  
  
"My Sensei said it would build up more strength, moving through water requires a lot more strength and stamina than moving through air."  
  
"So where did you train?"  
  
"New Zealand, North Island, a fishing village near Napier, not very big, not very exciting, but a good place to grow up, if you like fishing."  
  
"Do you still have a family?"  
  
"Sure, my parents, my older brother and sister, and the twins are younger than me. Why wouldn't I have family? I even lived with them when I was training."  
  
"You really haven't met many other Saints have you? We're not usually big on that whole 'family' thing..." Daichi looked away hurriedly. June saw the motion and could have bitten her tongue at such a thoughtless comment.  
  
"..but when we do, we really value it." It wasn't exactly a smooth line but it was the best she could do at short notice. She saw Arion frown slightly at her, and she indicated Daichi with her head, giving an almost imperceptible shake.  
  
Arion responded by nodding a little and launching a particularly hard blow to June's upper arm. She caught his fist, dropped on her back, stuck her foot into the pit of his stomach and flipped him outside the ring. She knew there was no way she should have been able to make that move if Arion had resisted, but hoped Daichi had been too distracted to notice.  
  
Arion walked towards Daichi, "Want to have a shot. Give me a chance to even the odds."  
  
"Okay, but only so you can be beaten twice in a row."  
  
Leaving them to it, June walked over too where Rana was seated. "May I join you?"  
  
"You are free to do as you wish."  
  
"Well, that's better than an assault I suppose. Do you meditate often?"  
  
"It's not simply meditating, it's refining control of my cosmo."  
  
"I was wanting to ask, I've never come across a cosmo anything like yours before, nor even heard of one. How can cosmo cancel out cosmo like that? They are both the same sort of energy aren't they?" "Ice is simply frozen water is it not?"  
  
"Yes"  
  
"And ice can dam water can't it? When I use my Phaetons Bane attack, I'm releasing a very delicate cosmo energy matrix, capable of cancelling out a wide range of other energies if properly focused. If I were to lose control over that matrix then it would consume me as well as my opponent." "Well, don't let me interrupt you further."  
  
"In combat I have to deal with many more distractions. However, I would prefer for some silence." June kept quiet and centred herself.  
  
On the other side of the gym Arion and Daichi circled each other, sizing each other up, in every sense of the word.  
  
"So what exactly IS a Steel Saint, anyway?"  
  
"We're an experiment that Saori's grandfather had. He wanted a new type of Saint for the new Cycle of Athena. We don't have cosmo the way you old Saints so."  
  
"Less of the old if you don't mind!" There was no rancour in his voice.  
  
"Whatever. We're the Glaude Foundations first attempts at the next generation of warrior. We don't have cosmo, we have technology and implants. We're their first guinea pigs."  
  
"You don't look like a guinea pig to me. With that helmet on, you look more like.. I don't know, a fox?"  
  
There was a note of pride in Daichi's voice as he replied, a note that made Arion sure he was heading the conversation in the right direction, "I'm the Steel Land Saint, Mister Kido insisted they pattern the Steel Cloths after the constellations too. Mine is based on Vulpecula, the Fox."  
  
"Did you know there's a Bronze Vulpecula Cloth too?"  
  
"Well, I knew there had to be one, and the odds were that it'd be Bronze, but there aren't any pictures of it that Mr Kido or the Glaude Foundation could find, so they had to sort of make up the design as they went along. They said that Mu the Cloth Smith would have designs for it somewhere, but no one was sure where he was back then."  
  
"And the other two? You said there were three."  
  
"Sho is.. was the Sky Saint. His Cloth's based on Toucana. He's my real brother."  
  
"Older or younger"  
  
"He's two years older than me, but he treated me okay."  
  
"You sound very proud of him."  
  
Daichi looked puzzled "Of course I am, aren't you proud of your brothers and sisters?" The idea that anyone wouldn't be seemed alien to him.  
  
"Sure, but we don't say it too often. We fight, we argue... we argue a LOT, then we fight some more. We're very close, we have to be to spend so much time arguing."  
  
"I usually went along with Sho, he knew what had to be done. He was the leader of the Steel Saints, until..." his voice trailed off again.  
  
Arion had started to make some educated guesses about the situation. A serious case of hero worship from a little brother, and an older brother who'd had some sort of serious accident, possibly an accident Daichi was blaming himself in some way for. That last part was a feeling that Arion could relate to after the night before.  
  
He continued gently; "You want to talk about it?"  
  
"No, not yet, but thanks, maybe another time." Arion nodded solemnly and let the matter drop, but was inwardly pleased that he'd managed to get even that minor commitment.  
  
"The third is Ushio, we're not actually related, but we're nearly brothers I suppose. He's the Sea Saint, he's based on Dorado."  
  
"Dorado? Umm... the Goldfish? What does he do, swim round a bowl all day?"  
  
"I said that to him once, he sulked for over half an hour. That may not sound like much but he was doing it at the bottom of the training tank, which I thought sort of proved my point more than his."  
  
"Half an hour! That's a lot better than I've ever done. How did you get him out?"  
  
"Sho threw some fish food flakes into the tank, then he kept tapping at the glass and making fish faces like a tourist in an aquarium. Ushio couldn't stay angry through that." Daichi grinned at the memory,  
  
"When Ushio did come out, Sho gave him a long talk about acting his age, then he gave me an even longer lecture about how the Dorado constellation is a swordfish and made me promise not to make fun of Ushio again unless I wanted to wake up one night to find myself getting mysteriously soaked by a water cannon."  
  
"And did it work?"  
  
"You said you had brothers, what do you think?"  
  
"Ten minutes later, back to normal?", the blond Saint hazarded, Daichi nodded.  
  
Arion continued "Thought as much. A swordfish? Did you know that 'dorado' can be another word for dolphin too?"  
  
"Really? I don't think you'd have much in common with Ushio, he's the quiet type, doesn't really get on with a lot of people." Almost unconsciously, both found their eyes turning to look at Rana. They both caught each other's eye and grinned sheepishly.  
  
"Hey, I'm Arion, I get along with everyone."  
  
"Uh-huh", Daichi's tone sounded less than convinced. "Unless it's someone you're fighting?"  
  
"Well, that sort of goes without saying. I try not to make the first move though."  
  
"Why? I know the Andromeda Saint never attacks first either, because he hates fighting. Is it the same with you."  
  
"Nothing so noble I'm afraid, it weakens an opponent when they make the first move. It gives away a lot about their personality. Of course, the flipside of that is that you're more likely to get knocked out in the first round, but I can usually manage to overcome that."  
  
Without warning, Arion launched into an attack. A flurry of kicks and punches that turned him into a blur of movement.  
  
"Oh, and I lie if I feel the need to..."  
  
Whatever Arion planned on saying next was lost. Almost effortlessly Daichi blocked or dodged each strike, Arion's speed increased but with little effect. Though she'd decided not to interfere, June found herself watching, fascinated by Daichi's performance.  
  
Then Daichi started to add in attacks of his own, all the while deflecting Arion's blows. Eventually, a swift series of movements ended with Daichi's fist stopping less than a millimetre from Arion's startled face. Arion ran his finger through his hair and whistled, genuinely surprised, "Okay you little Steel Squirt, how in the name of Athena did you manage that? You said you didn't have cosmo? That means you couldn't have Seventh Sense, and we've never even fought before. How could you manage that well against me?" "Oh, I've got something better than Seventh Sense."  
  
"What?"  
  
"That's a 'Steel Squirt' secret", Daichi definitely sounded smug about something, in the manner only someone with an older sibling can.  
  
"Come on, out with it."  
  
"Action replay!"  
  
"What?"  
  
"I may not have Seventh Sense, but I have action replay and digital tracking.  
  
"Which means?"  
  
"Which means that I saw you fight last night, as well as your sparring this morning, and I record every move I see. My computer analysed your combat style and highlighted your weaknesses for me."  
  
"For instance, I now know that when you use your left arm in a downward swinging block, you leave your right arm just too low to block a variety of upwardly vectored attacks. It means I know you twist yourself round to the right, and raise your left elbow, just before striking with your right fist."  
  
Daichi tapped his helmet and his eyes "My on-board computer processes all visual data I see, and adds a sense of absolute positioning in everything I see, and they never forget anything. Put it all together and I see the world in a different way to most people. It's kind of hard to explain to someone who doesn't have the ability."  
  
"Now that's something I'll bet not many Saints get to hear said to them. Impressive though".  
  
"Sure. So, anyway, I've told you a bit about me, it's your turn to tell me about you I think."  
  
"Oh, that's a story for another day. So, I think you've proved you can move as fast as I can face to face. " "Hah! Wait till you see me run!"  
  
"And wait till you see me swim. Want to try a little biathlon? I think we've got time before the meeting."  
  
"You're on!"  
  
June watched the pair of them leave to return to the pool and smiled.  
  
"It won't last you know." June practically jumped, Rana had hardly seemed to be breathing.  
  
"What?"  
  
"The Steel Saint being happy."  
  
"That's a singularly cynical opinion. Why not?"  
  
"Daichi has deep rooted problems, even you must be able to hear it in his voice, the sort of problems that won't go away with a bit of camaraderie and male bonding. And as for Arion.. there's something about him that's just not. 'right' but I can't work out what it is yet."  
  
"Well, frankly, if he can get a smile out of Daichi right now, I'm prepared to put up with just about anything short of loyalty to Saga. Any communication now will be a foundation to deal with the problems further down the line."  
  
"When you're up against the forces we are likely to encounter, 'down the line' might never come. Is it worth the risks? Your choice. Your consequences."  
  
"We're a team now Rana, our choices, our consequences. If you had a problem with the way Arion and I handled Daichi it was up to you to say or do something about it at the time. You can't pass judgement if you took no part when you had the chance."  
  
"Very well, next time I shall not be so reticent. You may not like the results though"  
  
"We'll try it and see what happens", June wanted to grit her teeth, her moment of shared understanding with Rana seemed to have been forgotten, by Rana at any rate, "by the way, might I ask when you are going to inform them of your little secret."  
  
"In my own time. In that case it is definitely my choice."  
  
"Very well, but don't leave it too long. Finding out that a team-mate has been keeping secrets is bad for everyone. If the situation arises where I feel I have to tell them for some reason, I will, whether you like it or not."  
  
"I understand, but would ask you to bear in mind that that rule works both ways, if you have secrets then you have to be prepared to tell them to us. Are you ready to be that open Chamaeleonis Saint?" June had nothing to say to that.  
  
- - - - -  
  
They gathered that afternoon, with Saori Kido once again.  
  
"I'm sending you to Canada first. I want you to locate Geki's master, Anateus the Silver Bear Saint. Saga had a fondness for twisting the minds of those who didn't agree with him totally and, from what I can gather, Anateus has a reputation for independent thinking."  
  
"Saori means he argues with people a lot" Geki rumbled. June almost started, the Bronze Bear Saint was not what you might call talkative and for him to proffer a comment was a new experience for her. Saori smiled in acknowledgement, "Well, that's another way of looking at it. For this assignment I would appreciate it if you would take a couple of the other Bronze Saints with you. I have a feeling that at least one of them will be joining you on your team. You should definitely take Geki, it's his Master you will be meeting and he knows him best, Ichi and..." she paused for a moment "Jabu.. " The purple clad Saint immediately stood taller and prouder "..because if you didn't take him, he'd come along anyway." Jabu visibly deflated.  
  
"I'm sending them because you may be going up against a Silver Saint, and I want you to have some extra forces to call on if need be. So many of the Silver Saints served Saga that I can't be sure of any of the others. Ophiuchus Shaina, Cassiopeia Narcissus and Aquila Marin are loyal of course, and I'd ask them to join you, but they're all needed elsewhere at present, and Silver Saints tend not to work together well. Bear in mind, I know from experience that a Bronze Saint can defeat a Silver Saint, even if they try and convince you otherwise."  
  
"I'm keeping Ban and Nachi here as bodyguards until Seiya and the others are fully recovered. So if you three would go and get ready..."  
  
When the other three Saints had left Saori addressed the remaining Honour Guard as a whole. "I want you to keep an eye on the three of them, the composition of your team is a choice for all of you to agree on. They're a bit rough around the edges in some cases, but they all have potential. Before you decide which of them to take on, consider their overall usefulness to the team, not just their personality."  
  
"You will be operating on the fringes of my authority, so for the sake of security it's better if you don't contact me, nor any of the other publicly known Saints directly. Your contact will be Joseph, the Keeper of the Athenaeum, whom I trust as absolutely as I trust you. I know you can look after yourselves for the most part, but if you need guidance, he'll be the one to contact. He can always contact me if he feels he can't advise you adequately."  
  
She nodded to June, who took this as her cue to take out a small object from within her clothing. I was a fragment of mirror, set on top of a hexagonal quartz prism.  
  
"This is a fragment of the Mirror of Cassiopeia, given to June by Narcissus the Cassiopeia Saint herself. It has been crafted by her Cosmo to be in perfect resonance with only one other crystal in the world. It's twin is in the Keepers Vault in the Sanctuary. What is spoken into one, is heard by the other. Let me demonstrate..."  
  
Saori leaned over and spoke into the crystal. It might have looked foolish if she weren't so serious about it.  
  
"Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3. Can you hear me Joseph"  
  
No one was particularly surprised (Which probably said something for their life experiences) when a voice emanated through the crystal, as clearly as if the speaker were standing next to them.  
  
"Yes Miss Kido, this is really strange, but I can hear you as clear as crystal. No pun intended."  
  
"Thank you Joseph, we can hear you too. Stand by..." Saori turned back to the Saints. "Unlike a radio signal, the crystal's signal can't be traced or blocked by ordinary means, nor does it need satellites to communicate round the world, so it's as close to completely secure as can be arranged. Please be careful, it is irreplaceable."  
  
"Use this to check in with Joseph as and when you need to. He'll always have the crystal near him and he has the authority to call on any of my resources."  
  
"Well, I shouldn't keep you longer. Your flight leaves tonight. I don't know when I will see you again, but always know that a part of me is with each of you, as it is with all my Saints. "  
  
"I also want you to know that I trust each of you completely. Each of you in your own way had proven worthy of the tasks ahead of you, and I know that you will bring honour to the Saints of Athena."  
  
"I know you are risking your lives on my say-so and I cannot properly express my gratitude. I look forward to seeing you all again."  
  
With that she turned to move away, and all four Saints dropped to their knees in respect. She curtsied deeply to them, then turned and was gone. June might have seen tears in her eyes as she left, but it was hard to tell.  
  
Left alone, the four Saints looked at each other. They were now going to have to trust each other completely each and every day. There was a heavy silence.  
  
"Well," said Arion casually. "What are we all waiting for? There's adventure to be had, honour to be won, and we're just the Saint's to find both!"  
  
End of "Getting to Know You..." - Honour Guard 3 Coming Soon... The Honour Guard are barely starting their first mission when trouble breaks out. Is the Anateus Silver Saint trustworthy, and will the Shadow Saints let the Honour Guard live long enough to find out? And more on the mysterious force behind the Shadow Saints. 


End file.
